Study Chinese in Diqiucun, Beijing?

I once recommended in this blog Diqiucun (Global Village) Language Institute in Beijing as the choice of language school for studying Chinese in China. A primary reason is that its tuition fee is low. Given that its teaching doesn’t seem to be worse than, if not same as, that of the famous BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University), the school looks like a fair choice.

The school’s students are predominately Korean and that explains why its website is in Korean only.

Two forum discussions here and here will give you more information about studying in Diqiucun, including the price, the teaching, the schedule, etc. You will find it very helpful.

But I have explained earlier that, don’t expect too much of a western approach to teaching in China. The teaching method in China is simply far from ideal, be it in BLCU or Diqiucun, or any other Chinese language school.

If you want to go to China to study Chinese, what matters most is not what you learn in the school or university, but how you can make use of the language environment to speak more and learn more. The school/university course will force you to learn a bit every day in a formal way, but what you can learn outside the classroom, such as conversation practice on the street, is ultimately what can get you somewhere in your endeavor to master Chinese language.

have you checked Live the Language Mandarin School? Some of my friends told me good things about it, any experience you have? They are definitely more expensive than Diqiucun, though if its worth it, I wouldnt mind paying a bit more, compared to other schools in Beijing they are still quite reasonable.

One big disadvantage of Global village is that BLCU students (and also from other schools) go there to get cheap extra classes.

When you go there you feel everyone is smarter than you but the only reason is that they are already in another school! I am not saying the classes are bad, but don’t feel discouraged if your classmates are progressing way faster than you!

I’m a native Chinese speaker (fluent in Cantonese as i live in HK) and my Mandarin is quite fluent. However as I was western-educated all my life, my Chinese writing and reading abilities are quite appauling.

i can read over 500 commonly-used traditional chinese characters, and now i also want to improve my ability to read and write some simplified chinese too

so i think it’s likely i will need a more customised private tutor (as my other friends who studied Mandarin in Beijing are non-chinese or are not fluent in speaking Mandarin)

Would there be any suggestions as to where best I can go?

i still want to enjoy the social and cultural life with other fellow students, making new friends,as well as sight seeing and really appreciating what Beijing has to offer, so I’m not really looking for a super rigid academic experience for the entire time of my stay

Can you guys tell me more about the Beiyu? I am going to enroll in that school. Please give me your opinions on its teacher quality and the reputation among other insitutions and students. Thank you a lot.

Hello all,
Your respective input is of great value for foreigners like me have have little idea of the quality of the different universities. Here is a quick question: I have only been studying mandarin for a few weeks here, but am looking to start at a university. Apparantly I have missed the majority of the admission deadlines for the major universities, so here is the question: Will I know what the hell is going on in class? I am assuming that there is not any english worked into the class instruction. Any suggestions for an absolute beginner trying to find a place to study and get student visa??

Oh- and I should add- in some classes- you really have to be super hardworking to keep up with the Korean students at Diqiucun. However- if you really want to learn Chinese- not just drink beer with a whole lot of foreign students in Beijing (easy to do at Beiyu) – you have to be super hardworking. If you’re not super committed- better to learn Spanish or something.

I studied at Diqiucun for about 2 years. I funded my stay and studies in China by teaching English- and Diqiucun was flexible and inexpensive enough for me to do this. I met plenty of students at the big universities whose progress in Chinese was a lot slower than mine. So I have to say that if you have real self discipline and/or a strong desire to study Mandarin – Diqiucun is as good as anywhere to learn Chinese- plus a lot cheaper.

HOWEVER- there are a few points you should watch:

1st- the quality of teacher varies dramatically – but its easy to change classes.

2nd- Unlike at Beiyu – you have to discipline yourself, do homework for yourself, and set your own study goals.

3rd If you are single: Be careful of having a relationship with a student (or teacher) at Diqiucun and keep in mind that you are there to study – and that Diqiucun is a dodgy language school.

4rd. Lessons are often conducted in a way that is rather- well – different to Western teaching methodology. Teachers can get rather personal and make all sorts of stupid comparisons between Western, Chinese, and Korean culture and politics in class (and compare things such as your appearance, money making ability, manners etc.- with other students).

5th. The teachers taught me great Chinese language skills- but they also like to talk about Korean culture. I probably learnt more about Korean culture than I did about Chinese culture.

All in all- the place gave me great Chinese skills and allowed me to achieve my goal of learning Mandarin. So good luck to anyone out there wishing to do the same Jia you :)

As a student of both schools, I have to say I would be totally lost if I were only studying Chinese at Diqiucun. The teachers (Chinese or foreign language) on average aren’t that great. The classes are all built on really tight schedules so that an entire textbook is finished in about a month and a half, and if the teaching isn’t really that great students who aren’t super (nvli) are completely lost. You really get what you pay for at Beiyu (BlCU)

Hi Anna, I went to BLCU for a short PTH course 2 months ago. I agree that the environment and real-life conversation outside classrooms are far more important in learning putonghua. I guess sometimes foreigners tend to spend lots of time with their fellow classmates and naturally they just speak in English. Also, according to my teacher, some foreign students may spend a bit too much time in social life rather than going to class…

By the way, while I found the teachers in BLCU pretty helpful, I still got a student tutor (Fudaoyuan) offering private session. It’s really good and still cheap — RMB 25 (around USD 3) per hour.